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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Bruno, more than a pet, a brother

Sad announcement to make. There has been 3 deaths in a row between March and April. First my cat then my godpa and now my little dog brother. Be warned this is gonna be a photo heavy post but in the end it's for my dog, 15 wonderful years in a page.

My Shih Tzu dog, Bruno Boey of 15 years has returned to rainbow land on a sunny morning at 9:50am April 13th 2015, Monday. I still remember cuddling him on the first night when he arrived. I was only starting my high school at that time. I had no idea how to take care of a pet too. We didn't pick him from a litter. A middleman couple took from a breeder and brought Bruno to us after months of begging to my parents therefore Bruno was Godsend.

Enjoy the photos and story with this song

The last words to him was "bye boy". That was on 1st April 2015 when my parents came to stay at my house for a few days for my godpa's funeral. When I said those words I already had a feeling I might not see him again. I can't believe it was the last "bye boy" after my parents brought him back to their home.

A week before he passed I suddenly fell ill with fever which is uncommon for me. I also had difficulty in breathing and vomited 3 days before his passing. You see, we are connected since he lived with me. Whenever one of us sick the other one will get sick too. Today is 16th April as I re-edit this post I had diarrhea every morning and night though I only eat once a day due to lost of appetite.

His full name is Bruno Boey Chai Chai because he was our family member, my dear little brother. Many weeks before Bruno arrived, I saw a house downstairs beside my block taking care
of someone's furry pup (I am attracted to anything furry). Her name was
Crystal, a Shih Tzu as well. I have been stalking them since. Yeah, I know it's illegal but those days living in a flat, everybody also kaypo one.

I kept begging my mum to inquire on how to buy a dog from them. Then we got the number and booked a puppy. The sellers were supposed to bring a pair of pups for us to choose but Bruno came alone instead.

He arrived on 21st February 2000 at 11:15pm (it's good to keep a diary, u never know). He was a tiny ball of fur. His fur was so soft and bouncy like cotton candy. His face was like a blooming sunflower with his fluffy fur surrounding his tiny nose. Mummy called this blooming face. He smelled so good with powdery floral essence so I guess the couple sellers gave him a bath before he arrived all the way from mainland. His nose was partially pink and took weeks to turn black. Mum always wanted a male dog for it is easier to maintain. When he
arrived we couldn't see his genitals so mum thought we were fooled lol.

The lady seller kept stroking his fur to show us how thick it was but we didn't mind how the puppy was because I was too overjoyed to have my first puppy. We paid RM1800 which was super expensive for a Shih Tzu at that time because he had a birth certificate. His registered name was Bestoc Hunter. He was born on January 8th 2000 so he was indeed a lucky millennium dog.

Bruno is a certified pedigree yo! Swag!

So after the seller had gone my parents and I were discussing what to name him. Bruno just popped into my mind and we agreed. Mummy gave his Chinese name Chai Chai because it means wealth. Chai Chai is also the name of a cute member from F4, a Taiwanese boyband. His nicknames included Ketot, Penyet and Ah Boo coz his barks sounded like "boo".

So the very next day after he arrived, we found a tiny pee on the
cushion he slept on and he never got down though it was only an inch or
two. When he got down he pooped the tiniest poop in my mum's facial
room. Well, my mum used run a facial business. In the picture above, the purple dog is called Popo while the identical twins were Bernard and Bernie. One of the twins was buried with him.

On that very first morning, we brought him to a kopitiam opposite for breakfast. From then
onwards he was trained to sit quietly on a plastic chair and would
always beg for food from us or other customers from surrounding tables.

First couple of months he arrived was tough for us. He would pee and shit everywhere and always lau sai. Being toothless, he could hardly eat so we brought him to a very expensive vet that charged us at one time over RM100 because it was midnight. We bought cans of very soft and mild puppy food which were very expensive too. He also drank pet's milk so much that his head smelled very milky.

Till the very end of his life he would ask for Milky Stick everytime after meal. I think I was the one who introduced this "drug" to him when I bought it in a large pet store at Megamall in KL. We also buried a dozen of Milky Sticks with him.

Mum would freak out whenever she bathes Bruno because he was so tiny that he looked like a mouse.

My mum would pray to God everyday when he was a puppy so that he would grow big and healthy coz he was too tiny and fragile. We fed him all sorts of meat like pork, fish, beef, lamb, duck, turkey, crab, prawn and many more but chicken was his all time favourite. He has tried so much fruits even papaya and durian. Those two were his favourites but he hated bananas. Bruno's diet also included eggs, vege, soup, cake, cheese, eggtart, dog treats and at times I fed him curry. Seriously whatever we humans tried before he has tried except chocolates and stinky stuff like garlic and onion. No regrets!

Guess what he grew into a handsome fat boy lol!

Song ended so I played this one...

It was a song from American Tail 2: Fievel Goes West. Dad and I shared a song entitled Somewhere Out There from the first American Tail so this one is my song with Bruno. I sang to Bruno before when I was a teenage in our old house.

Bruno's first birthday. So big boy ya!

He joined his first MKA competition when he was 1 year old. He won two
categories but not the best of overall due to a certain birth defect I
shall not mention because men would be shy to say so too.

He was super
exhausted and we humans were too. The event took place in a super hot
multilevel car park. We didn't know what to prepare and thought they could at least prepare a table for each contestant and advise us to bring our own extension, fan etc. So we never let Bruno enter any competition since.

He loves to drink mum's coffee when she's not looking and my dad's beer when he watches TV and steal my food coz we always put our mugs and plates on the floor while watching TV. I remember he would steal the whole fish and drumstick when I was on the phone but he managed to spit out the bones. So smart eh!

Greedy boy's tamjiak times! Being fed like a king.

He also loves to seek revenge. Bruno would grab my dad's clothes and bite when my dad did not bring him out. Mine was worse coz I love to spank his butt for no reason and chase after him. He would either pee on my bedroom floor or jump up my bed and pee....sometimes shit. I was the one who taught him how to jump while my mum taught him how to hold things with both hands.

I feel guilty now for bullying him when he was younger. I miss spanking
his butt, palming on his nose because it was so flat, kicking him
around like a toy and dragging his bushy tail. I would bring him to the fridge coz his
fur was so thick and he was panting all the time so I thought he was
hot. I would also carry him close to the window coz he's afraid of heights and
would grab my shoulder with his claws. Bruno on the other hand would seek revenge in his very own way but mostly bit my hand. Still have some marks on my right hand. There were so many nasty activities we shared as brother and sister.

Now I would give anything for him to bite me and pee wherever he wants.

Stealing and destroying my stuff was his acquired skill.

Some of his daily routines were licking my mum's face to wake her up every morning, begging for treats and to go out kai kai. On his free time, Bruno would self clean by licking his paws and rolling on the floor and sweeping his face with both hands. He also loved to dig the mosaic floor. Mummy always say he was digging for treasure.

The front seat is always reserved for Bruno and sometimes he pretended to be the driver. We are sorry we didn't get you the Mercedes you chose when you were young. Bruno wanted to get into the wrong car, a Mercedes when he was walking at Gurney Drive.

My dad would clean his body and brush his hair every morning after walk.

After grooming at pet shops, the groomers would tie pretty ribbons and made everyone thinks he is a girl. He had so many pretty pins and ribbons like a little girl. However most groomers charged extra like up to RM60-80 due to his thick coat.

I love to tie "coconut tree" because the fur on his head was so long and thick.

Oh and he also loves to bite dad's hanky. Dad would throw his hanky for Bruno to catch every time he comes home. Bruno would growl profusely when dad plays tug of war with him.

He would turn his body with his belly facing upwards whenever someone walks by to ask for a tummy rub. I would rub for 15 minutes non-stop coz it was addictive.

My dad would sing to him during bath time.

Then dad would spend an hour to blow dry his thick furry coat.

This is Bruno's favourite girlfriend coz they are of the same size.

"She" has been with him since Bruno arrived. My parents used to buy lots of toy dogs for me before getting a real dog. Now I feel the pain of losing one.

Bruno loves to dress up. He has tons of scarves, hats, bowtie and costumes for all occasions.

Bruno's new stroller. He jumped out of his old one before when mum pushed up a bump at our old old house's car park coz it was so small and unstable.

15 years is a long time...longer than the time I lived together with my
grandma. Longer than the time I had with my cat. We shared so much
memories.

Song ended while I was editing so I played this instead. More tears with this one :'(

First heard it when I was very young in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Ever since then I adored Audrey Hepburn. Nobody knows Audrey is actually my all time favourite actress.

Let's start with celebrations. This Garfield pillow was his "table". It's buried together with him as well.

Bruno was only 7

My erm... sweet 18th birthday

I think this was my 19th birthday. Can't really see the candles.

My 21st birthday

We celebrated our birthday together every year for the past 14 years. This year is gonna be different for I'm all alone. Anyway, hubby's birthday is just a week before mine.

I made cheesecake and vanilla ice cream cake specially for you. Next year January who am I gonna be making cake for? Can you please come back and taste my cake? You were the best food tester we ever had. You were very picky when it comes to food. You only like mum's butter cake and cookies and no one else.

We celebrated Christmas with him every year too.

And moved house twice. I wonder if he gets confused.

Bruno guards the gate of his new home. Even the car has changed already.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Receiving angpows from parents and relatives and recently from me on 2014 and 2015.

Bruno on my graduation.

Around 2010 we attended gatherings hosted by Pupzclub. Bruno enjoyed his social gala with all the furkids and made so many friends.

Bruno attended all gatherings until Lantern Pawty on 2013 if not mistaken.

We humans were served delicious food too.

What a fun time he had. Pupzclub is still active today. They recently held Chinese New Year gathering this year and most gatherings serve a purpose to raise funds for pet related societies or to help pet related causes.

At Straits Quay. What a lucky boy!

CNY gathering with his Chinese costume.

Our usual gathering place last time. Now no more...

Bruno loves to partay!

Bruno also won Mr. Christmas 2011.

One last song for Bruno...

I find this very touching when I first heard it in the 90s after watching the first series of The land Before Time. I don't find all the 13 sequels as amazing as the first one coz the two producers were legendary George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I heard there's a 14th one coming n 2016 gosh!

Now I felt worried for my parents because Bruno stayed with them after I got married and moved out. How will they take it?

I forgot to mention the reason why he went away. He started growing tiny tumors around his body when he was about 10. Those tumors grew larger and larger by the years but he was still fit and healthy in person.
Only recently his tumors on the butt started to burst. Sometimes a lot of blood sometimes tiny drops. on Sunday night he excreted blood and passed out into a coma.

My parents had no choice but to bring him to the vet the next morning and put to rest. My parents haven't told me anything until late afternoon. I should have been there. I lived far from them because they were on the mainland. I regretted not being able to smell his milky essence for the last time and rub our foreheads and nose together like the first night he arrived.

We enjoyed all the holidays and outings together. We even brought him up to Gunung Jerai, Ipoh, Taiping, Pantai Merdeka and many places.

One of his first photo with my hubby.

Bruno and Jaguar, my parent's rescued cat.

Bruno and Angel a.k.a. Meowmi, my cat who passed away one month ago.

When Bruno first met Benji, my newly adopted puppy.

Bruno's final photo with Benji. His chest was shaved for hygiene purpose.

It was tough to handle these two dogs.

Bruno was my best man when I got married. Too bad I was too busy till forgot to take picture with him on my wedding gown. This was taken by my hubby while he was rushing. Bruno, your brother in law really loves you very much.

Bruno loves to walk at my garden coz it's always windy.

He also loves to walk at his spacious park.

Bruno loves to brush his teeth. So happy face!

Who could forget to take thousands of selfies with pets

His final photos with me on March 29

Here are some of the videos to share with you

And finally to end this lengthy post.....

Our dearly beloved Bruno Boey Chai Chai

Farewell My Love!

We will meet again soon where you'll come running through the lovely meadows

14 comments:

Dear reader,Thank you for your time to read the longest post i have ever written. I miss him so much it makes me want to read again and again. His life is more than the length of this post. If really wanna depict the whole story I think will take 360 pages or more. Thank you once again for your time

I don't know you, I don't follow this blog, but I felt a pull to come here after reading a random YouTube "Cooking With Dog" video comment by you about the loss of your dog, and have spent ages reading this whole post. So often someone special in our lives are known only to us. Now - through the wonders of the internet - somebody else, a stranger from Australia who you will likely never meet or know, has experienced how awesome and special Bruno was, and the amazing long life he shared with you, and will remember him forever even though he never met him. As a dog lover with my own beloved dog (Pixie) now getting on in years, and many prior canine family members long since departed, I laughed and cried reading of your wonderful journey. Would that we all were so lucky to have shared such happy times. Thank you for sharing Bruno with the world in this way, and ensuring that he will live on not just in your heart, but touching the hearts of all who take the time to read about you both here. Until you are reunited again...

Dearest reader,I'm so touched that you took the time to read the whole post. I'm sorry for writing such a long post but can't help it coz there's so much to tell. Cherish every moment you have with Pixie and treat Pixie like a king/queen. In future you will look back and feel contented with no regrets. My family and I were glad we gave the best for Bruno. Its not the things he own but the memories and love that matters most. Same goes to all friends, families and people you know. Thank you once again for your kind words they really soothed my heart

I was also brought here by your comment on a cooking with dog video. I read this whole post and I feel as if I knew Bruno himself! I was brought to tears reading this and I'm very sorry for your loss as I know what it is like to lose a pet who I practically grew up with! I find comfort in believing that they are watching over us and looking after us in a little pet heaven! I have another pet now, a cat named Prince, and I make sure to appreciate and enjoy every moment I spend time with him.

Hi there,Thank you for your comforting words and taking your time to read through my longest post ever. I used to have a cat too, Angel. He passed on one month before Bruno. We only had 3 years together. I had written a post for Angel one month before this one but a short one. Send my love to Prince and give him all the love he needed and spoil him while you still can